USDA Offers Help to California Agriculture

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has set aside $4 million to help farmers and ranchers impacted by the California wildfires recover.

USDA also announced Monday that households impacted by recent wildfires in Northern California could be eligible for help buying food through USDA’s Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, or NRCS, will issue waivers for those interested in the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to enable recovery work to begin immediately. Meanwhile, the Farm Service Agency and Risk Management Agency in California will meet farmers and landowners to assess damages and discuss technical and financial assistance.

USDA says the Farm Service agency can help farmers and ranchers with a range of disaster assistance including compensation for livestock death and feed losses, risk coverage for specialty crops, and repair of damage to agricultural and private forest land.

The wildfires have impacted seven counties in California’s wine country.